And It Was Only 9:00
by teamginger
Summary: Jim always comes to the office early.


Jim walked into the office, whisking past reception, and settling at his own desk. He pressed the power button on his computer, and waited patiently for the screen to come to life. He leaned back in his chair, looking around the quiet office. Soon, Kelly would come in, raving about her favourite celebrities or what she did last night until Ryan came in, and she would replay the entire conversation to him. Then Phyllis would come in without a word and set to work. Then Angela would walk in briskly, in an extremely uptight and controlled manner. Kevin would follow Angela, and Angela would scold him for being late. Completing the accountants' trio, Oscar would stroll in and strike a friendly conversation with Phyllis. Sometimes Toby and Oscar came in at the same time, and Toby wouldn't say a word, but he'd just disappear into the Annex, where Ryan and Kelly would most likely be making out at 9:25. Then Pam would enter the office, sitting down at reception and starting up the ridiculously slow computer at the front desk. Andy would come into the office whenever he felt like it, because he never really listened to anyone- same as Creed. Dwight almost always came at the exact time as Michael, and Jim suspected that Dwight waited in his car for Michael to arrive, desperately trying to gain his boss' approval.

And Jim was always the first in the office. He enjoyed being early, because it was so quiet and peaceful in the office. There wasn't any drama, or obnoxious colleagues. Jim secretly hated his job. Well not exactly 'secretly'. He would make occasional outbursts that would make it obvious to anyone who was paying attention that he wanted something better. Something that would make him feel more accomplished than just a paper salesman. Everyone in this office bothered him, except Pam obviously. She was perfect. She was beautiful, and as radiant as the sun; yet subtle, and never draws attention to herself. She was also engaged to a man she dated in high school. She had been engaged for seven years. To a man who didn't really care about Pam.

It was 8:45. Jim had been in the office for ten minutes, and no one was here, and Jim hadn't even logged onto his computer. Kelly would be in roughly fifteen minutes, and then everything would go downhill. He typed in his user and password, then waited for the desktop to load. The door clicked open, and he gripped the mouse a little tighter, bracing himself for an excruciating conversation with Kelly. Instead of the young, chatty girl, it was Pam. Jim swivelled around in his chair, slowly, to face Pam.

"You're early, Beesly," he noted, raising his crooked eyebrows. She glanced up at him, and looked surprised that he was talking to her.

"I just woke up early today," she said hastily, as though she were hiding something. She sat down in her chair, checking the voicemails. Jim stood up and strode over to Pam's desk, leaning over the counter.

"Did you really?" he asked in a low whisper, even though they were the only ones in the office. Pam looked up at him; her beautiful green eyes were slightly puffy, as though she had been crying.

"Promise you'll keep it a secret?"

"Who do you think I'd tell?"

"Okay," she breathed. "It's sort of silly, now that I think about it, but here it goes. I'm just sort of… Disappointed that I've been engaged for seven years and nothing has really happened. I love Roy, but I feel like we're not doing anything," she explained, tears coming to her eyes. Jim's heart fell.

"Well… If you're not happy with something… Fix it," Jim said, picking his words very carefully, as though he were treading on eggshells. "You could talk to Roy about it."

"I dunno, I mean maybe Roy isn't ready," she pondered, biting her lower lip. Jim gritted his teeth with frustration. _Maybe it's a sign, maybe you should call it off now. Call it off now, Pam. _

"Yeah, you're probably right," he forced out, drumming his fingers on the desk. The door swung open, and Kelly burst in.

"Jim, you'll never guess what happened yesterday," Kelly said brightly. "I was just sitting at home watching 'Real Housewives', and then all of the sudden the phone rang. So obviously I picked it up, and then it was like this telemarketer, and they were being like, really annoying, like they didn't even call during the commercial, the actual show was on," she paused for emphasis.

"No way," Jim gasped sarcastically. Pam smiled a little.

"Yeah way," she agreed. "So then I was like, look can you like, stop talking? I'm trying to watch 'Real Housewives', and then the guy was like, oh my god are you really? Like I totally love that show! And I was like, look, I just want to watch TV, if you don't stop talking, I'm going to hang up on you. And he was like: wait no; I'm secretly in love with your voice. And it was totally romantic and sweet, so I gave him my address, and now we're like, totally dating!" she exclaimed. Pam and Jim shared a concerned glance.

"Um, that's great, Kelly, but what about Ryan?" Pam pointed out.

"Oh, we're not together anymore. He's _such _an ass," Kelly exhaled, turning on her heel and disappearing into the Annex. Jim turned to Pam, and buried his face in his hands.

"I can't wait for the rest of today," Jim grumbled, dragging his hands down his face. "And it's only 9:00."


End file.
